As anticipation grew among the increasingly fidgety audience, red and white washed the stage. You could feel the energy shift at a packed Music Academy in Chennai on Saturday when indie music sensation Kaber Vasuki made a rousing entrance. He made no effort to hide his wish to set hearts on fire — the show began with the fiery rap track ‘Thirikilli.’ And over the next two-and-a-half hours, the musician held the audience with a mesmerising grip. The show, part of his Frangipani tour, featured several hits stitched together with a story the composer narrated.
A day after the show, as he joins us for a free-flowing conversation, Kaber is at his reflective best.
In an exclusive interview with The Hindu, indie music sensation Kaber Vasuki speaks about his ongoing Frangipani tour, his latest music video Oozhi, the issues that peril artists in the record label ecosystem, and more PHOTO BY S SHIVARAJ
| Photo Credit:
shivaraj s
Fans identify him as a singer, songwriter, indie artist, and showman. But who is Kaber Vasuki to Kaber Vasuki? “Being attached to an identity is a problem. So maybe my identity is not being attached to any identity,” says Kaber, quoting writer Jiddu Krishnamurti as an inspiration. “Practically, I just take whatever identity helps me do whatever I want to do at that time.”
He says he learnt this the hard way when he was too attached to the identity of being an indie artist. “When I struggled to sustain a music career and had to choose other means of livelihood, I kept asking myself, ‘I am an indie artist; how can I work at a corporate job?’ That’s how your brain begins to function when you are attached to one particular identity; we must learn to also identify with all those things we do because we like doing them.”
A still of Kaber Vasuki from his Frangipani show at the Music Academy in Chennai on Saturday, August 22, 2026
| Photo Credit:
Special Arragement
In the story he narrates on his tour, Kaber says that he came to Chennai to become a ‘rockstar.’ Who exactly is a rockstar? His answer, interestingly, explains the very same notion most of his fans identify him with: “A rockstar is a musician whose songs you sing to yourself to cheer you out of loneliness.”
And he is indeed a rockstar even in the conventional sense. Kaber looks so comfortable being a showman on stage. “I get into my flow state on stage. I feel most alive when I am performing. Here (regular life) is where I feel most uncomfortable,” he says, adding that sometimes it can be challenging to defeat his inner self-critical voice and to lock into this ‘flow state.’ “But what surprises me is how even the audience seems to be aware of when I need a push. It almost feels like a conversation even though I am the one talking and singing.”
For a lot of us, Kaber’s songs are for rainy days. What does Kaber listen to on a rainy day?
“A lot of songs like ‘Oru Naalil Vaazhkai’ and old MGR songs. I want to mention Skepta’s ‘Bullet From A Gun,’ which speaks about being rejected and that moment when you realise that the solution to something is actually within you. This song connected with me a lot. Over the last year since we started this tour, we have gotten to a place where we can easily sell more than 1,000 tickets. But I still miss the energy the crowd gave me when I was performing to just 300 people. Those 300 people would know all the songs I sing; now, on stage, I know some people in the audience may not know many songs. So back when I was performing to those 300 people, I wanted to perform for a larger crowd, but now when I am here, I realise I miss something about that. These thoughts cause a heaviness, which is when that Skepta track helped me”
The story Kaber narrates in the show features characters inspired by real-life people from his life. Given the many details he shares about them, one wonders if he asks for consent from those individuals before writing about them. “Firstly, I don’t use real names of anyone in the story. Moreover, right at the beginning, when I narrate how I bought the guitar from an old man, the audience will know this is fiction. I am speaking from my heart, but the names, places, and incidents are fictionalised.” With ‘Frangipani,’ his hit track that has become an anthem of grief for many, the composer says he asked permission from the family of his late friend Nila. “That is because it’s something very sensitive. But if I am talking about my friend Anbu, I don’t need to get his consent. In fact, he should feel glad that I am telling a story about him. Moreover, even people close to me won’t be able to tell who he is; only the real person might figure it out.”
A still of Kaber Vasuki from his Frangipani show at the Music Academy in Chennai on Saturday, August 22, 2026
| Photo Credit:
Special Arragement
Even if you have listened to ‘Frangipani’ in the comfort of your home, watching what the track does to a hall of people is an experience unlike any other. It pushes audiences into a deeply personal space. The experience is so singular and overwhelming that you don’t wish to touch the person sitting next to you, fearing they would break apart like glass, or you would. Kaber says he is still surprised that the track takes audiences into such fragile spaces. “I am aware I am entering such a space when I am performing the song. And, like every song I perform, I try to be honest and go back to the emotional state I was in when I wrote that song. What the audience feels is something I wouldn’t know, at least before the song ends and they start reacting to it. When I started ‘Frangipani,’ I didn’t intend to take people to such fragile spaces. I was just expressing myself.”
Performing ‘Frangipani’ takes a toll on Kaber. “Much of the song is about me remembering Nila, and so I invariably end up recollecting something about her. Sometimes it would trigger a new memory of Nila. Even now, people who knew Nila come up to me and share their experiences.” Which is why Kaber might retire ‘Frangipani’ by the end of this tour. “I don’t know how long I can sing this song. After a point, it will become performative. That might feel very weird. I don’t know; these are very confusing thoughts.”
Kaber Vasuki on setting up ‘Patchai Perundhu’ and the issues in the record label ecosystem
Kaber set up his own record label, called Patchai Perundhu, after years of battling what he calls an unfair record label ecosystem. “What has happened is that we called non-film music indie, and these record labels have stolen the word ‘indie.’ It essentially means a musician who owns his own catalogue, which means that he owns all royalties for his songs. Sharing royalties, IPs, and catalogue will be that indie musician’s choice,” said Kaber, adding that the issue arises when the system treats an artiste like a commodity. “They will bet on a horse for as long as it wins; the moment it stops, they will move to another horse.” This creates a rat race among artistes, he added. “It becomes a status game, which is fine, but if you keep fighting that game, you can’t create anything of value. An ideal ecosystem should accommodate those who are fighting that status game and those real artistes who stay away from those games. An artiste is someone who operates on the extremities of a culture and brings unconscious things to consciousness. But if everyone goes after this rat race, people will stop exploring, isn’t it?” This is why Kaber set up a ‘360 model’ through Patchai Perundhu. “Every moment of your experience in my show is managed by my team, and I know exactly who is responsible for what. When it comes to music videos, I have my own deal with the producer of those shorts,” he said, adding that having a record label has also helped him get good deals with distribution companies. “When we reach a company with a contract as an individual artiste, they will generally offer a bad deal, but if you reach them as a label, they will do slightly better.” Having a record label also means Kaber decides when to release a track. “I want to release a track while I still carry the emotion behind the song in my heart. This might sound illogical, but this is how I think. If I work with a label, this won’t work because they need a marketing plan in hand — which is fine, but it’s just not my game. I am trying to build something that works for me, and I am hoping that more artistes will try to build something for themselves.”
During the show, the organisers also screened ‘Oozhi,’ Kaber’s latest music video featuring him alongside actor Aditi Balan. The team had been working on the video for more than a year. Being anxious about appearing in front of the camera, Kaber needed some assistance with acting. “I surrendered to Lingesh, Aditi and our acting coach, Jenny Bharathi. But after a point, I felt quite comfortable; I understood what would reflect well on camera. I can now say that I feel quite interested in acting as a craft.”
A still of Kaber Vasuki from his Frangipani show at the Music Academy in Chennai on Saturday, August 22, 2026
| Photo Credit:
Special Arragement
At a time when popular record labels are pumping enormous capital into music production and marketing, it is a given that musicians like Kaber need to stand out. “As an indie artist, my marketing budget would be less than 1% of what most record labels spend. In such a David-versus-Goliath setting, I can’t play their game. So if I try to do the songs they do, I won’t get any visibility because those songs need that kind of presentation to get that kind of reach. So I do what they cannot do very well.” This includes songs that feel timeless and focus on emotional truths. “Generally, I try to write songs that last.”
Kaber wishes to stay away from the rat race the record label ecosystem pushes artists into. If so, how does Kaber define success? “My issue is not that metrics are treated as success. That is also a kind of success, but we cannot objectively compare the numbers of two artistes. For me, success is helping my family lead a comfortable life while still doing the things I want to do. Secondly, I see how happy the people around me are, how excited they are to work with me, and whether they are seeing growth in their lives. Moreover, I feel successful if my work touches people’s hearts.”
Published – August 26, 2026 04:00 pm IST
